


Something's Wrong With Reid

by Mrs_SimonTam_PHD



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [20]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: And Yes It's Referenced, Demonic Possession, I Basically Made This The Shining, Possessed!Reid, ghostly possession, haunted hotels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23996647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_SimonTam_PHD/pseuds/Mrs_SimonTam_PHD
Summary: Ever since they've been at this hotel, Reid's behavior is... not normal.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595023
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	Something's Wrong With Reid

**Author's Note:**

> Another Bad Things Happen Bingo Square with another Bingo? Hell Yes!!
> 
> Square: Demonic/Ghostly Possession

"Hotch, there’s something wrong with Reid.” 

Hotch had heard that phrase from everyone on the team, with the exception of Reid himself, and he had to agree. 

Everyone knew that Reid’s irrational fear was the dark, and usually didn’t bust his balls about it too much. They also knew that Reid did  _ not  _ believe in the paranormal. 

The only hotel that the FBI could put them in (or, in other words, the only one that they were willing to pay the bill for) had a reputation for being extremely haunted. As a result, most of the team was a little nervous about staying in it. However, Reid cheerfully strode right into the lobby, talking about the ghost stories that gave the hotel its name. Of course he knew. 

As per usual, they bunked up. Hotch was with Reid, Morgan was with Rossi, and the girls bunked up together like usual. As a result of this, Hotch saw the changes in Reid first hand. 

The first change was evident in Reid’s coffee two days later. Hotch accidentally snagged Reid’s styrofoam cup filled with liquid goodness and didn’t realize that it wasn’t his own until he looked down at the lid and saw Reid’s initials inked in Sharpie. He tasted it again, confused. 

Because Reid was drinking black, unsweetened coffee. 

The fact that the coffee was black isn’t what threw Hotch off. What caught him off guard was the fact that the coffee was unsweetened. There was no sugar of any sort in the coffee. Which was unusual for the man who seemed to dump half a pound of sugar per cup of coffee into his own. 

When Hotch confessed to drinking Reid’s coffee and apologized for doing so, Reid waved it off, made himself a new cup, and when Hotch inquired about the lack of sugar in it, explained that he had woken up with a migraine and was trying to mitigate the symptoms by drinking black, unsweetened coffee. Hotch teased him about being dehydrated and they moved on. They had a serial killer to catch, after all. 

As the days went by, Reid began exhibiting even weirder behavior. He read slower. He shook hands with strangers without using Purell afterwards. He was more aggressive when he questioned potential unsubs, acting more like Morgan than himself. He got into a physical altercation with a man who, apparently, didn’t understand the word ‘no’ and was harassing Reid for his number. Reid, instead of doing something underhanded or profiling him to death, proceeded to punch him in the face and broke his nose. No one bothered to defend the other guy, as he was doing that and got what he deserved after not backing down. It was, however, a shock that Reid would handle it in such a physical manner. 

At the next crime scene, with victim number nine, Claire Hutchinson a week after they arrived came the next major break in Reid’s personality. JJ had to punch Reid  _ hard  _ in the arm to keep him from giggling at the scene. There was, of course, nothing even remotely about the scene, so it was alarming that Reid would laugh. 

There was also the fact that he was more of a blatant flirt, flirting with… well, everyone and even bedding two cops from the precinct at the same time.  _ That  _ was a sight for Hotch to walk in on by accident (Rossi bought him a deliciously strong whiskey on the rocks to compensate the image). 

The team worked on the case of Reid whenever Reid wasn’t around. Morgan’s theory was that Reid got news that his mom’s health was rapidly declining. Rossi suggested that he was going through a secret break up that the team knew nothing about. JJ thought that maybe Reid fell off the sober wagon and was back on Dilaudid or a similar narcotic. Prentiss posited that he was going through a midlife crisis. Hotch believed that maybe Reid was trying out a new personality in order to appear more “normal”. 

Each theory was discredited. A simple call to Bennington’s confirmed that Diana Reid was doing well, actually. Garcia kept track of what little online and cell phone activity Reid did and confirmed that he hadn’t dated anyone for over a year. Garcia also checked pharmacy records, doctor’s visits with prescription notes, and Reid’s financial information to see if he was getting a prescription for it, going back a month, and found nothing. Hotch discreetly checked Reid’s things for any signs of acquiring the drug illegally and using it, and saw none. Finally, there were too many consistencies in Reid’s current behavior that matched up to his known behavior to suggest either the midlife crisis or a personality shift. 

The behavior worsened over the next week or so, and Hotch began to irrationally wonder if he was now Wendy Torrance at the Overlook Hotel with Reid as the starring role of Jack Torrance. 

However, that wasn’t real. While the Overlook Hotel had a real-life counterpart,  _ The Shining  _ was just a story. An excellent one, but a story nevertheless. There was a logical explanation for everything- except for Reid’s current behavior. 

This serial killer proved to be elusive, and it was late at night and another full week after Claire Hutchinson was found when they finally caught Noah Beers, about to kill and dispose of victim number ten, Christine Burgess. She managed to survive and that was a win for the team. They brought him in and headed back to the hotel. 

Despite Hotch’s misgivings about staying at the haunted hotel one more night, he couldn’t deny his team the rest that they obviously needed. Even Reid was somewhat seemingly back to normal, for the most part. So Hotch ordered everyone to bed, and that wheels up would be at eleven AM. 

They arrived at the hotel and headed to their respective rooms. Reid said that he’d take the second shower, as it was a good time to call Bennington’s and get an update from his mom. Hotch agreed and went to take his shower. 

He stood under the spray for a while, letting the water wash away the adrenaline rush of the chase and capture of Noah Beers, the imagery of the case file and the victims, and his worrying about Reid’s behavior and personality changes. He scrubbed away the sweat and just breathed. 

When he finished, Hotch got out and dressed in a pair of plain grey sweatpants and a Virginia Tech Mock Trial shirt. He then headed into the bedroom after brushing his teeth. 

“Shower’s free,” he said, sitting down on his bed and grabbing his phone. He needed to call Jessica and Jack and let them know he’d be home tomorrow afternoon. 

Silence echoed in the small room. Hotch looked up and over at Reid’s bed. The young genius was facing the window, his back to him, sitting up straight. 

“Reid, did you not hear me?” Hotch asked patiently. “I said that the shower’s free.” 

“Sorry,” and  _ whoa, _ that wasn’t Reid’s voice. Not at all. Reid turned to face Hotch. His eyes were white, cloudy, and crying blood. A small dribble of blood was coming out the corner of his mouth. Hotch shot straight up, grabbing one of his guns and pointing it at Reid- or was it not Reid? “Spencer can’t come to the phone right now. Don’t bother leaving a message, Aaron.” Reid smiled sickly before giving a soft, gruff laugh that sounded completely  _ unnatural.  _

“Spencer Reid’s not ever going home.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @lucibae-is-dancing-in-hell
> 
> Twitter: @Alendra_Dragon 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are Shiny!!


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